Bomb harpoon



July 29, 1941. c. CORNELIUSSEN ETAL BOMB HARPOON Filed Aug. 2, 1938 C Come/@558 Patented July 29, 1941 @EE'EQE BOMB HARPOON Carl Corneliussen and Erling Corneliussen, Sandefjord, Norway Application August 2, 1938, Serial No. 222,689 In Norway May 31, 1938 3 Claims.

The use of harpoons with explosive shell on whaleboats involves a number of difierent complications which may give rise to the risk of unintentional bursting of the shell, with consequent injury to the persons handling it.

This danger arises from several causes, sometimes because the shell fails to explode on striking the whale or does not strike the whale at all, sometimes owing to the fact that loaded harpoons of the types hitherto known cannot be dismantled without risk of bursting, since the fuse, no matter what type is used, is inserted at the bottom of the shell and is attached to that part of the harpoon head which enters into the shell.

The essential purpose of the present invention is by simple means to provide a shell-bearing harpoon of such construction that it can be loaded and made ready for use before the fuse is introduced. For this purpose there are according to the invention arranged in the harpoon-head or in the shell body apertures which are accessible from outside, when the harpoon is ready for use, and from which there runs a passage in to the cavity of the shell, the said apertures being so placed and formed that a fuse for ignition of the charge can be inserted therein from outside, whereby the igniting action of the fuse is conveyed to the charge in the shell through the aforesaid passage. By this means a shell can easily be rendered harmless by removing the fuse, or the accidental explosion of the shells during loading may be prevented by postponing the introduction of the fuse until immediately before the harpoon is to be used.

The arrangement according to the invention may easily be combined with the previously known arrangement in which is employed a combination of friction-fuse with time-fuse in order to ensure the ignition and explosion of the shell after the harpoon has been fired from the gun, seeing that two or more such apertures as above mentioned may be made in the harpoon-head or in the shell body, according as may be desired.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, it will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawing, which diagrammatically illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a partial elevational view with parts shown in section illustrating the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the bomb harpoon.

In the drawing, l designates the foremost part of the head of a harpoon, 2 a portion of a harpoonclaw, 3 is the explosive shell itself and 4 is the charge of powder therein. In the harpoonhead are made apertures 5 and 6 with passages i and 8 leading in to the explosive charge 4. The outward orifice of the apertures 5 and 6 is accessible from outside and is so arranged that there can, for instance in the aperture 5, be introduced a friction-fuse 9 with ordinary trigger-line Ill, and in the aperture 6 a recoil time-fuse ll. These fuses can, as will be understood, be introduced and removed at will without having to screw off the shell 3 itself. When the fuses have been removed, the shell may be handled without danger, as above described.

We claim:

1. A bomb harpoon comprising a shaft, a head secured to the shaft, and a hollow shell removably secured to the head and adapted to contain an explosive charge, said head having a channel therein leading from the exterior of the head to and communicating with the hollow space in said shell and means in said channel whereby a fuse may be removably secured for igniting an explosive charge in the shell.

2. A bomb harpoon as claimed in claim 1 ineluding an explosive charge confined within said shell and a fuse removably secured in said channel.

3. In a harpoon bomb of the type described for exploding a shell element thereof; a head element comprising means on one end for removably securing thereto said shell element loaded with an explosive charge, said head element having a recess formed therein extending from the exterior surface at a point to the rear of said means for removably securing the shell thereto substantially to the longitudinal axis of the head, said recess being provided with means to removably secure a fuse therein, said head being further provided with a channel substantially along the longitudinal axis of the head and extending from the bottom of said recess to the end for removably securing thereto said shell element, whereby ignition may be conveyed from said fuse to said explosive charge.

CARL CORNELIUSSEN. ERLING CORNELIUSSEN. 

